Some winter storms drop snow for many hours and leave broad trails of white that are hundreds of kilometers wide. That was not the case when a weak storm moved across Oklahoma and into southern Kansas on January 12, 2013.

The snow band above wasn’t the only one that the weather system dropped. To the west, a lighter strip of snow cut through east Wichita; to the east, the storm system left a much wider band. In all of the bands, snowfall was short-lived but intense, significantly reducing visibility but lasting only about 20 minutes at any one location, according to the Wichita office of the National Weather System. Total accumulations ranged from a few tenths of a centimeter to around 2.5 centimeters (1 inch) in some areas.

“The image helps accentuate the region of heaviest snow,” said Nesbitt. “Melting and sublimation in the three days since the storm left snow signatures in the areas that got the most from the storm.”